Republican donor Hal Lambert on Monday appeared on CNN to defend President Donald Trump, leaving fellow “NewsNight” panelists in shock with a conspiracy theory involving former President Barack Obama, his former chief strategist David Axelrod and Pope Leo XIV.
Trump published a controversial social media post on Sunday condemning the pope and his calls for peace amid the Iran War, calling the pontiff “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible at Foreign Policy,” which Lambert baselessly suggested was the result of a shadow plot.
“But this is 100% political, OK?” Lambert said during his “NewsNight” appearance. “This is all about trying to hurt President Trump’s Catholic vote during the midterms and Republicans during the midterms. If you look at what— play out the dots here.”
“David Axelrod goes and visits Pope Leo last week. They’re talking about Obama going to visit Pope Leo. Pope Leo is from Chicago,” he begins to explain. “All of a sudden, now Pope Leo is out attacking Trump and the policies of the United States and Israel.”
Lambert was a member of Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee and founded the investment management firm Point Bridge Capital, which offers a MAGA-branded exchange-traded fund that centers on 150 companies from the S&P 500 Index that support Republican candidates.
